We’re not even at the six-month mark since some of the star-powered Substack and Facebook newsletter deals were announced, and at least one outlet is reporting that “newsletter writer fatigue” has set in. Andrew Federov at Off the Record reports (subscription required) that Salman Rushdie has been reduced to “writing up lackluster ask me anythings” and Malcolm Gladwell is “scraping out lukewarm takes that would make even the most harried web editor grimace.”
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
